1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns sealing elements or strips to be employed in building constructions which utilize corrugated or other panels having sinuous configurations for sheathing building walls, roofs and the like. In the case where the panels are supported by framing members, the sealing strips are interposed between the framing member or members adjacent the lower ends of the panels and the under or inner sides of the panels to carry the load of the panels and to provide a relatively watertight and airtight joint with the framing member or members. The strips may also be employed in situations where the panel supporting structure is not involved but the panels are in contact with straight line surfaces and the voids between the panels and such surfaces must be sealed. The sheathing panels may have different surface configurations and consequently the shaping of the panel supporting surfaces of the sealing strips to conform to panels of various types is a necessity and is conventional.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore sealing strips of various constructions have been used or proposed in which the strips, or at least the portions thereof which are to contact the corrugated sheathing panels, are formed of suitable resilient materials. In one prior construction, each sealing strip is composed of a single relatively wide strip of a resilient plymer, such as polyvinyl chloride, ethylene propylene terpolymer, or neoprene, the upper surface of the strip being shaped to conform to the corrugated panel with which it is to be used. In another known construction disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,330, a similar one-piece sealing strip is disclosed which is composed of an elastomeric material such as rubber. Such prior one-piece sealing strips do not have the desired load carrying capacity and become readily distorted.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,385,018, which refers to U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,330 mentioned above, describes and illustrates a sealing strip having a relatively rigid lower or base member formed of a material such as wood, inexpensive rubber, sponge rubber, polystyrene, and the like. The upper surface of the base member is provided with a sinuous surface corresponding to the surface of the sheathing panels with which it is to be used. What is termed a "filler strip," which is relatively thin and of uniform thickness as compared to the base member and which is composed of any desired material selected from elastomers such as extruded vinyl, neoprene and the like, or a relatively high quality rubber, is secured to overlie the upper surface of the base member as by stitching it to the base member with the stitching strand extending through the base member and filler strip at the peaks and valleys of the corrugations of the base member. Alternatively, rust-proof staples may be used for securing purposes. While the construction of the patent has certain advantages over a sealing strip formed entirely of a single body of resilient material, it does not have the panel sealing and supporting efficiencies as provided by a sealing strip or element incorporating the instant invention.